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Who are the Crows?

Character Lore

The Crows

The machine had wings and feathers, sleek and black as its body. But the feathers were eyes, too, sharp and delicate, and ears that pricked at every sound. The young prince considered the machine, considered its purpose, and his own. And then he called to it.

Welcome back guardians, today we´re going to be discussing the lore and mystery behind the Crows, the spy network of the Awoken. This episode was co-written with Cpt Kex. Cpt Kex and over 40 other fans from the GhostStories community has banded together to create a seven part video detailing the prologue of Destiny, that is, all of the lore that cements the foundation of the game. I highly recommend it to any lore veteran, as well as people who are new to the lore, as it is a fantastic introduction to the lore of destiny. The links are in the description.

Also, if you would like to get your hands on this custom 3D toland wallpaper for android devices, please stay to the end and I will provide some more information.

This is myelin games and I hope you enjoy this latest Destiny Lore episode.

Let’s begin with who or what are the Crows? I believe the Crows is a collective term for describing two different types of operatives. The first is; a mechanical, drone-like, sentient creature and the second is actually an Awoken field agent. The field agents who are considered Crows I believe are very similar or comparable to Ikora Rey’s Hidden.

Let’s provide some evidence for the first description, and the description which I find most interesting, the idea that Crows are these sentient spy drones. The best evidence for this comes from Ghost Fragment: Queen’s brother which reads,

The machine had wings and feathers, sleek and black as its body. But the feathers were eyes, too, sharp and delicate, and ears that pricked at every sound… Obedience was woven into its workings, and so it stopped. “Master of Crows?” “Mind the Black Garden’s gate. Follow anyone who passes through.”

“In the name of your sister,” the machine vowed. And it went to find its warp capsule, just as another came in. But this one flew skittishly, as if to evade its master. The prince caught it from the air. “You avoid me?” “I am tasked by the Queen.” “But you serve me.”

He let it tremble in displeasure for a moment. “Tell me your news.” The machine flicked its wings. The prince stroked them flat with slow assured motions. “Tell me your news,” he said again. “What’s the harm?” The prince considered this in silence for a moment and then he wrapped the crow up in his fist and folded its wings around it so that it could not move or fly. He did all this swiftly, and with purpose. Carrying the machine, he went to see his sister.

There are some very important descriptions of the Crows in this paragraph. Firstly, they are described like an actually bird, wings, feathers, sleek black body. In addition, they are also quite small because Prince Uldren can carry one in his hand folding its wings. The second very important thing is that they are described as machines, yet appear sentient, one of the Crows flies skittishly, appearing to avoid Prince Uldren, and when caught by the Prince, it trembles. So they are machines that can think and feel, indicating sentitence. Not only can they think and feel but they can also speak delivering messages.

I believe that this type of Crow, this sentient machine, is the same type of Crow that finds Prince Uldren on Mars in the Aftermath grimoire card, in this card they are referred to as drones. The card reads,

He turned in despair to find hundreds of his Crow drones, deployed on Mars long ago, circling his ship, waiting. “Welcome back, Master.” The one closest to him spoke first, and the others followed, a wave of salutations echoed throughout the dry sea.

This provides some really cool imagery of hundreds of these sentient machines, that look like birds but really have sophisticated technology allowing to see and hear everything.

As I mentioned at the beginning, there appears to be two types of Crows, the other operative within the Crow ranks are selected Awoken field agents. This is supported by Ghost Fragment: Fallen 5 where Variks is speaking with the Crows. It says,

“Variks of House Judgment sneered at the abomination. “Golden Age project, yes?” he clicked, turning to the Crow. His field agent was a young Awoken woman. “Technology of old Earth. Learned from the Great Machine.”

The Eliksni burbled to himself in mocking laughter and gestured with his lower hands. “You do us proud. Go. Speak with other Crows, learn more about these… Devil Splicers.” She nodded, a small smile on her face, and left the chamber.

It does not specifically say that to be a Crow you must be Awoken, however considering the secretive nature of Queen of the Reef, and the privileged nature of Prince Uldren, I tend to think that only Reef Born Awoken would be allowed into the ranks of the Crows. The nature and relationship between the Awoken field agent Crows and the mechanical drone Crows is unknown, they may work together or work completely independently of each other.

Regardless, we do know the general function of the Crows. For those who are familiar with the Lore of destiny you will know that the Queen’s brother, Prince Uldren, is also called Master of Crows. Up until the events of the Taken King, the Crows reported to Prince Uldren, and as previously described their obedience to Prince Uldren is interwoven into their workings.

BUT, the grimoire cards also seem to suggest, that this obedience can be transferred, as Variks would later take control in the absence of Prince Uldren. Regardless to who is controlling the Crows, within the grimoire cards the Crows appear to fulfil the role of a Spy including multiple functions such as; secretly gathering intelligence, repairing machinery, delivering important messages as well as intercepting and decrypting enemy communications, assisting with creating powerful Awoken weapons and lastly they are involved in secrete awoken research and development.

There are a number of grimoire cards that reinforce that the Crows gather intelligence for Prince Uldren and the Awoken. The previously mentioned Ghost Fragment, the Queen’s Brother grimoire card is one such example, Prince Uldren requests that the Crows monitor the gate to the Black Garden and report anyone who passes through.

In addition, the bounty, the Kell of Kells, reinforce that the Crows are sent on exploratory missions, it reads,

“The Hildian Campaign had two purposes: to break Skolas’s siege of Pallas and to position the Crows for an expedition to Jupiter.” —The Maraid

The Crows are even used to track and locate certain targets. Following the events of the Taken King, where the Awoken fleet were destroy by Oryx, Prince Uldren crash landed on Mars, and in his absence, Variks assumed control over the Crows. Variks uses the Crows to locate Fallen targets. The wolves of Mars card reads:

“Petra has given House Judgement a great gift. Variks now speaks for Crows. Crows fly on black wings, find what House Judgment needs found. House Judgement and the Reef are allies. Petra is a friend. The Crows will do as Petra needs. But they will also search for Variks, yes? They will find that which is lost. The Crows will find the Kell of Kells. Then Banners will rise as one. And Eliksni will stand together. Forever.”

So at this point, we can conclude that the Crows are very flexible and resourceful tools for gathering intelligence, like the monitoring of the entrance to the blackgarden, exploring new areas, such as Jupiter and tracking high value targets, such as the Kell of Kells.

The general idea that the Crows are Spies is nicely represented in the Ghost Fragment: The Queen, essential this card describes how the Nine detected the Crows in the Cauldrons of Rhea, Rhea I believe is a reference to the moon of Saturn, by the way apparently Rhea is the Ninth largest moon in our solar system, cough #nine’slocationconfrimed and the Nine were not happy about this, I think it reasonable to say that they were not happy because they essentially discovered Awoken spies within their territory. Have a listen to the card:

“More of your brother’s Crows have entered the Cauldrons of Rhea.” The Witch directly before her spoke with a dry buzz. “The Nine do not approve.” She stopped a moment to study the sealed face of a cell. The cloud of her breath mingled with the slow exhalation of cryonics.

“Send them one of our prizes. Something to commemorate our mutual victory.” “And which of your prisoners would you gift?” If she paused to think it was only for an instant. “Send them Skolas.” “A lovely gesture.” “Mm.” She cocked her head as if listening for a frozen heartbeat. “And remind them this: the Crows are mine.”

With the information I have presented so far, I think it safe to say that the Crows gather intelligence, so let’s move onto another function; repairing machinery.

There is one grimoire card that seems to indicate that the Crows are equipped with the tools to repair other machinery. In the Aftermarth grimoire card, it is thought that Prince Uldren is found on Mars by the Crows following the defeat of the Awoken by Oryx, the card reads:

“Welcome back, Master.” The one closest to him spoke first, and the others followed, a wave of salutations echoed throughout the dry sea. And with that hope returned. “Begin repairs on the ship immediately. Something has gone missing and you will help me find it.”

The fact that the Crows can repair machinery, in this case Prince Uldrens ship, just adds to their ability to be a self-sufficient spy.

Another function I mentioned was sending messages and decrypting enemy messages.

This is reinforced by the Wanted: Drevis, Wolf Baroness card which reads,

“After a string of defeats—at Amethyst, at Hygiea, arguably at Iris—Prince Uldren’s Crows finally made headway against the Wolves’ encryption.”

And this which reinforces that the Crows are used to send messages, the Queen’s Ransom card reads.

“The Techeuns gather at the door as the Queen approaches it. Prince Uldren holds it open with a small bow, and the Queen touches his shoulder as she passes. “Send a Crow to Mercury. And another to our new friend in the Tower.”

Lastly, there is evidence that the Crows has been used in developing powerful Awoken weapons and documenting the secretive research of the Awoken. The Wanted: Pirsis, Pallas Bane card indicates that the Crows worked with the Techeuns to create an illusion of the Harbinger, an Awoken weapon that previously devastated the House of Wolves fleet. The card reads,

“Finally, Commander Hallam Fen, Imogen Rife’s protégé, was able to establish a line of communication with the rest of the Reef. Working with the Techeuns and the Crows, they created an enormous visual illusion of the Harbingers, making it seem as if the Queen had finally decided to cut her losses and destroy the asteroid.”

Further supporting the Crows involvement in developing or assisting with the development of Awoken Weapons are the Crows Reports. One of the most interesting Crow Report is the grimoire card, Report: Taken Power, in this card, the Crows document how Techeuns are used to extract taken power to make powerful guardian weapons and armour. See my taken gaurdians video for more information about that.

As you can see, the function of the Crow is truly diverse, they are a resourceful operatives for the Awoken, gathering intelligence, repairing machinery, decrypting messages and developing or least documenting the creation of powerful awoken weapons.

Despite Reef Born Awoken playing their part in defending the last remaining Earth City, they continue to remain separate, illusive and mysterious. I always to have question the intentions of the Reef and so I must question whether the Crows have ever infiltrated our ranks, spying upon the tower and Guardians…

Well isn’t it obvious… have you not seen the Crows in the Cosmodrone… watching, listening, hiding… in plain sight.

That concludes this latest Destiny Lore episode, if you would like to support the channel leave the phrase, “Master of Crows” as I believe whoever commands the Crows hold an extreme amount of power.

Lastly, I would like to promote the 3D wallpaper for Android phones. I am sure you remember Brandon McCamey, he has helped out with a lot of Destiny artwork for the channel… and he does it for free. If you would like to get this 3D wallpaper, all you have to do is support him on Patreon, any support on patreon this month, large or small i.e February 2017, will get you access to this wallpaper. I do not make anything from this, it is simply my way of thanking Brandon for all of his work.